In the hottest month of the year Loewe invited me to their flagship in the Design Distric to what came out to be one of the most sophisticated presentations I have ever attended in Miami .
And, I am known for being unapologetic and I say things as they are …
The fashion world is scattered with brands that leave their future in the hands of creative directors and designers and sometimes stylists. In my mind, into book-cave mode and focused on other things, I had dismissed Loewe as “another” one.
Wrong-issima on so many fronts.
The store.
It's been there for over a year now and I had never walked in. It features the remains of a relic smack in the middle that for some reasons sounds creepy, but it props you in an atmosphere of respect, silence and appreciation of the surroundings. Something as spiritual as Stonehenge: all those handbags in exotic skins and nappa, cut and assembled in Spain and displayed in the most irregular shapes look like visitors, wandering around like you exploring the surroundings. You are only bound to revere them.
The brand.
With a story of 170 years (the past), it’s been a staple of the life of countless families in Spain as a luxury brand known for craftsmanship and. Based on principles of progress, expertise, modern (the present) its heart still beats in Spain. A stance projected into appealing a crowd without borders that longs to be inspired.
The designer.
Three years ago it was passed to the hands (and brains) of Jonathan Anderson whose acumen has contributed to the re-interpretation of the brand’s DNA in a dynamic and modern fashion.
The clothing.
The collection is the first of its genre, inter-seasonal or what we call it, Pre-Fall is about refinement and fluidity, tactile sensations from leathers as soft as silk or as rigid as sellers, tailored and oversize, shearlings and volumes. The prints need a special mention, exquisite natural prints that seem coming from the Encyclopedia Britannica. I was especially fond of a mushroom and I think it’s because I am in fall mood already.
What do you wear for an event like this?
For the first time after 20 years I wore half of my wedding dress. I am divorced, but my wedding dress is a relic I proudly keep in my wardrobe. It was designed by a great friend, it wasn’t the first thing made-to-measure for me, but I am told that I was a pain, worse than a bridezilla in the process of deciding how I wanted to walk down the aisle. All I ever knew is that I wasn't imagining myself with a traditional dress. I guess it was worth the pain if after 20 years the skirt, in a pale pearl-grey silk-gazar was resumed, put on, zipped up with no hurt feelings (it could have gone haywire drama craze).
I paired it (down) with an American Apparel V-neck heather grey T-shirt, my ubiquitous FurryLAB feathered slides made with certified authentic vintage astrakhan and crocodile skins and a saffron cross-body purse by Raison d’Etre, the Sabine collection, in a distressed and antiqued leather.
The take-aways.
I discovered a brand.
I developed a crush on the collection. It’s like the first symptoms of being in love, when you keep thinking that you’d wear this with this and that with that without having them in your closet.
It’s in Miami.
The event was exquisitely organized, understated and elegant, nothing was overdone, there were no fake air-kisses.
Everybody was professional, welcoming and pleased to be hosting that I left with that feeling that I wanted to be friends with all of them.
I received a coin purse in gift, so tightly and perfectly packaged that I had double thoughts before opening it, they lasted 5 nano-seconds though.